Karachi, October 28, 2022 (PPI-OT): KSE100 sheds 2.5% as political temperatures rise

KSE-100 witnessed a negative trend throughout the week primarily driven by rising political temperature closing at 41,140 points down 2.5% WoW. Investor participation also witnessed a drop of 6% WoW with avg. volumes clocking in at 214mn shares. Key underperformers were Automobile (-5.4%), Cement (-4.8%) and Oil and Gas (-4.2%) sectors. Foreigners turned net buyers this week (US$1.0mn) with the highest buying witnessed in the Tech sector (US$1.0mn) followed by the Oil and Gas sector (US$0.8mn). On the news front, KSE-100 reacted positively to Pakistan’s exit from FATF grey list after 4 years before witnessing a downtrend amid political uncertainty.

SBP reserves fell by US$157mn WoW to US$7.4bn while the release of US$1.5bn by ADB is expected to reflect in next week’s reserves. PM’s visit to China is expected to expedite work on CPEC projects along with expectation of US$6.3bn debt rollover whereas the Saudi Crown Prince is expected to visit Pakistan soon as well. After back to back meetings with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, DAP manufacturers agreed to slash prices whereas Pharmaceutical manufacturers agreed to resume production of Panadol which has been facing shortage in the market due to higher production costs.